Dad: Arrest crime watch volunteer who killed my son

Trayvon Martin, a Miami high school junior, was walking back from the store, a package of Skittles in his pocket. George Zimmerman, the captain of his crime watch group, was driving through his Sanford neighborhood, on the lookout for trouble.

He saw the teen and called police. Two minutes later, 17-year-old Trayvon was on the ground, dying from a single gunshot wound. Police found Zimmerman standing nearby, a gun in his waistband and blood seeping from injuries to his nose and the back of his head.

That was Sunday, Feb. 26. Sanford police cuffed 28-year-old Zimmerman, took him to police headquarters, interrogated him then let him go.

He told them he had acted in self-defense.

On Thursday, Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, held a news conference in Orlando and called on Sanford police to arrest Zimmerman for murder.

The family has hired lawyers Benjamin Crump of Tallahassee and Natalie Jackson of Orlando. Both demanded that police make an arrest and release details about what happened the night of the shooting, including several 911 calls.

They said they will file suit in state circuit court in Sanford Friday, demanding that police turn over their investigative records.

Police are still investigating, trying to determine whether Zimmerman is guilty of manslaughter, according to department records. They have interviewed Zimmerman several times and had him re-enact what happened, said Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee Jr.

Detectives should complete their investigation next week at the latest, he said, and will let the state attorney's office decide whether to file criminal charges.

Zimmerman was not available for comment Thursday.

At the news conference, the family's lawyers said Trayvon was simply walking back to the apartment he was visiting when Zimmerman, a man with no legal authority to detain him, confronted and killed him.

Crump called Zimmerman a "loose cannon" and accused him of shooting Martin in "cold blood".

Zimmerman, who is white, had spotted Trayvon, who is black, in his gated community about 7:15 p.m. and called Sanford police on a non-emergency number, saying he'd just seen a suspicious person, both sides agreed.

That call then ended and police dispatched an officer. Before the officer arrived, the department received several other 911 calls from people complaining about two men fighting and a gunshot.

Both sides agree that Trayvon and Zimmerman scuffled before the shooting, and there is evidence to corroborate Zimmerman's self defense claims, the chief said.

When police arrived, an officer overheard Zimmerman complain, "'I was yelling for someone to help me but no one would help me,'" according to an incident report released Thursday. It also noted that, the back of Zimmerman's shirt was wet and had grass clippings on it, as if he'd been on his back on the ground.

On one recorded 911 call, the police chief said, "You can hear the struggle and the gunshot."

At the news conference, the family's attorneys said there was nothing suspicious about Trayvon and no reason for Zimmerman to follow him.

Martin was an invited guest, visiting his father's fiancée and her family for a few days, they said. He had visited before, and it was a community with black and minority residents.

After Zimmerman called police, Crump and Jackson said, he should have backed off. He should not have confronted the teen and had no business patrolling his neighborhood like a cop with a gun, they said.

If Trayvon fought back, said Jackson, that's to be expected. He was being ordered around by someone who was not a police officer, was not in uniform and was not in a patrol vehicle.